Ravitch, Paterson Seal the Deal Over Steak

Richard Ravitch took the oath of office at a steakhouse to become New York's lieutenant governor.
       
Before Ravitch could even assume the office, his appointment broke a monthlong stalemate at the state Senate when a dissident Democrat came back to his party.

Ravitch took the oath at Peter Luger in Williamsburg -- a rush job to prevent Republicans from obtaining a court order blocking him from being sworn-in. Then, according to the restaurant's manager, the happy party ordered Porterhouse steaks.

On Wednesday night, Ravitch spoke to a New York Times reporter shortly before his swearing in, the paper said.

“I just hope to help the state through a period of fiscal pressures and economic downturns, just as I have several times in the past,” he said then.
       
Gov. David Paterson appointed Ravitch lieutenant governor to provide a tie-breaking vote in the state Senate.
       
For Ravitch it was the latest chapter in a long career that includes stints as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and chief labor negotiator for Major League Baseball.

A Friday hearing on the constitutionality of the appointment was adjourned until July 15 after petitioners seeking to block Paterson's decision asked for more time.

On Thursday, an appellate judge overruled a decision barring Richard Ravitch from taking over as lieutenant governor. Republicans wanted the order to prevent the Democratic governor from having Ravitch provide a tie-breaking vote in the deadlocked chamber.

Thursday's ruling by state Supreme Court Associate Justice Leonard Austin in Nassau County overturns a restraining order that
Republicans had obtained earlier Thursday.

Paterson said he's taking the dispute to a state appeals court in Albany. n the meantime, he said he will not
"try to flaunt" the appointment while the legal process is underway.

 A  former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority respected by Democrats and Republicans, Ravitch said he was sworn in at 8 p.m. Wednesday, hours after Paterson made the surprise appointment long thought to be constitutionally prohibited.

Ravitch said today that he will be "addressing serious problems that the state faces and I am not now and I will never be a candidate for elected office."
 

Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York

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